Eoin Morgan: England are in great shape with Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali flying ahead of World Cup

England's IPL stars must report back for international duty this week ahead of the biggest summer of their careers and captain Eoin Morgan believes the form shown by Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali can take them to a new level as the World Cup approaches.

England, the No1 ODI side in the world, begin their bumper summer against Ireland in Dublin a week on Friday, before facing Pakistan in a T20 and five ODIs.

The World Cup, for which they are favourites, begins on May 30 against South Africa at the Kia Oval.

The 17 players in the ODI squad to face Pakistan meet for a camp in Cardiff this weekend, meaning Bairstow, Moeen, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will return over the next few days.

Jos Buttler is home already for the birth of his first child, while Joe Denly flew back on Sunday having played just one game for Kolkata Knight Riders. He is captaining Kent against Gloucestershire in the Royal London One-Day Cup today.

Bairstow has scored 445 runs in his maiden IPL — second only to his Sunrisers Hyderabad opening partner David Warner — including 114 in his third match and unbeaten scores of 61 and 80 in recent victories.

"He is averaging 63.57 and has a strike rate of 158. He was due to play his final game today.

“Jonny scored 1,000 ODI runs last year, so that will be difficult to top,” said Morgan. “But the feelgood factor of being one of the best players in the tournament currently can only bode well down the line.

"The majority of batsmen that play the game are confidence players, so it will serve the guys well to have performed strongly.”

After a slow start to the tournament with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Moeen has been in sparkling form over the past week, with a pair of rapid half-centuries in the middle order.

He has 216 runs from 128 balls, including 17 sixes and, while his bowling has been used sparingly by Virat Kohli, his economy is just 6.68 and he has five wickets.

Buttler, an established star of the tournament, performed strongly for Rajasthan Royals, too, with three fifties in eight innings.

Morgan, who last played in the IPL in 2017, believes England’s relationship with the tournament has developed since Buttler first went.

“The mentality is changing,” he said. “Previously we would go and learn a huge amount, probably more so than we’d actually give back to the tournament.

"That was the instance for a long time, the majority of time I spent out there was like that.

“The last three years, probably since Buttler and Stokes went, that is changing. We are giving a huge amount to the tournament, a lot more of our players are in demand, last year more so than this year because of the World Cup.

“Guys are becoming the MVP (most valuable player) or getting very close and playing a lot more games. That says a huge amount about our team and how we are progressing as a side.”